http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/opinion/sunday/brazen-attempts-by-hotels-to-block-wi-fi.htmlBrazen Attempts by Hotels to Block Wi-Fi
By THE EDITORIAL BOARDJAN. 3, 2015
Some large hotel chains want to block guests from using their own wireless Internet devices. It’s a blatant attempt to limit customer choice, and the Federal Communications Commission should say no.
Marriott International and the American Hotel and Lodging Association are asking the F.C.C. to give hotels the green light to remotely disable the Wi-Fi devices that some travelers use to connect their laptops and tablet computers to the Internet through cellular services from companies like Verizon. This would force guests to buy the wireless Internet service provided by hotels.
In its petition, the hotel industry asks the commission to create an exception to rules that prohibit anyone from “willful or malicious interference” with wireless communications that are “licensed or authorized” by the government. The industry asserts that because Wi-Fi signals use unlicensed frequencies, they do not deserve the same protection as licensed services like cellphone networks. That is an absurd argument, since the government has authorized unlicensed Wi-Fi devices and networks. Other countries, like Britain, prohibit “deliberate interference” of wireless communications.
In October, the F.C.C. fined Marriott $600,000 for preventing customers from using their own Wi-Fi devices at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville. The commission said the hotel was charging people attending and exhibiting at a conference $250 to $1,000 per device to connect to the hotel-operated Wi-Fi service. Previously, the F.C.C. prohibited Boston’s Logan International Airport from blocking Wi-Fi networks set up by airline clubs.
Hotel industry officials say they want to protect guests from rogue Wi-Fi networks that are designed by criminals to look as though they are part of hotel-operated Wi-Fi systems and that are used to hack into travelers’ computers. They say this issue is a particular worry at conferences where dozens of exhibitors and thousands of visitors are using Wi-Fi.
Some of these security concerns have merit. But the best way for hotels to deal with rogue networks is to inform law enforcement agencies and help them apprehend criminals who are trying to steal information. In justifying its request, the industry likens what it wants to do to some universities’ restricting the amount of data that students can send and receive over campus wireless networks. But while universities may restrict the use of their own systems, they generally do not prevent students from setting up and using their own networks.
Marriott and the hotel association say that if the commission rules against them, some hotels might prohibit guests from checking in with Wi-Fi devices or restrict such equipment from some parts of their properties, a move that would only alienate their customers. The F.C.C. should not give hotels the power to block Wi-Fi devices that many customers rely on.
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